An unofficial news blog for Neil Young fans from Thrasher's Wheat with concert and album updates, reviews, analysis, and other Rock & Roll ramblings. Separating the wheat from the chaff since 1996.

Neil Young's new album "Homegrown" is now available for pre-order. Order here(Please shop locally & independently. But if you can't, we appreciate your supporting Thrasher's Wheat by clicking this link
. Thank you!!!)ADVERTISEMENT

Saturday, April 21, 2018

1. Sugar Mountain (guitar -piano-guitar-piano)
2. I am a child (guitar)
3. Mother earth (pump)
4. Birds (piano)
5. Long May you run (House band minus Mike Campbell)
6. For what itâ€™s worth (Stephen stills vocals and same house band)
7. Mr. Soul ( same band)
8. People Have The Power(Patti Smith vocals) (House band with mike Campbell)
9. What the world needs now is love sweet love (Burt Bacharach and Judy Collins and entire ensemble; Neil on backing vocals)

Midway through his mini-set at the Light Up The Blues benefit concert for Autism Speaks, Neil Young stood up from the piano where he’d just finished a haunting rendition of the After The Goldrush chestnut "Birds" and told the crowd that he wanted to bring his "brother" onto the stage. He wasn’t talking about his actual brother Bob, but rather a guy he met at a Toronto coffee shop back in 1965 and worked with off-and-on for the last 50-plus years: Stephen Stills.

It’s been a bumpy journey for the two of them over all that time, especially since Young has a nasty habit of walking away from their collaborative projects just when they start to get really interesting. But even though Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young seem to have finally broken up for good and Buffalo Springfield and the Stills-Young Band are little more than hazy memories from the distant past, they still have an explosive onstage chemistry and a true love for one another that was apparent from the opening notes of "Long May You Run" and continued through the Springfield classics "For What It's Worth" and "Mr. Soul." It was a joy to see that spark in person.

The all-too-brief set – which concluded when Patti Smith came out to join them for "People Have The Power" – was one of the many highlights of the fifth Light Up The Blues concert, which was put together by Stills and his wife Kristen to help people with autism, including their college-age son Henry. "With the help of steadfast friends and concerned professionals that shared our our determination," Stephen Stills told the capacity crowd at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, "Kristen and I battled through conflicting diagnoses, emerging information and trial-and-error and were able to find a path that lead our boy to a far better way of life and now he’s in college."

8 Comments:

Amazing collaborations and special guests last night. Neil was in great spirits and played stirring versions of several staples. “Birds” was unexpected and beautiful. Our oldest son is on the spectrum, and the combination of our commitment to supporting those living with autism and our passion for Neil’s music made for a very emotional and incredibly rewarding evening. We are deeply indebted to the Stills Family, Neil, and all the other artists who helped create awareness for those living with autism and raise money for Autism Speaks.

Neil Young: OK, our guy wanders on stage and plays a perplexing Sugar Mountain on both piano and guitar, mostly with his back to the audience. I may get darts thrown at me for saying this, but his stage presence during this acoustic segment was very similar to his scattered, chord and lyric forgetting performance in Ontario earlier this year. He must have some wrist issues, as his acoustic playing featured none of his typically rhythmic, hammer on/off style of playing. On I Am A Child, he dropped several chords and ended the song on almost a pregnant pause. Strange. Mother Earth on pipe organ was better, and best was Birds on the upright. The guy is 72, and frankly, my wife and I thought he sounded like it during the acoustic segment.Neil Young/Stephen Stills: So you get Neil revved up into a higher gear these days and he comes alive! Long May You Run turned out to be a very awesome performance featuring both guys on White Falcons. The backing band totally botched the intro segment, Neil mentioning in the mic “let’s try that again” - I am telling you, the band was not really in a groove they way I thought they might be. But, by mid way, this tune is cooking. For What Is Worth another highlight, with the boys trading licks. Very nicely done. Mr. Soul was rocking, but, again, the band messed up the first solo section, especially the bass player. When they did the solo section a second time, Neil was soloing right in front of the bass player to make sure he got it right. So - during the electric segment, Neil’s in fine voice, and his playing is great. The backing band gets a B/B- for this segment.Patti Smith comes out and they close out the rocking segment with People Have The Power. Closing with Burt and entire ensemble for What The World Needs Now. Very sweet.General Observations: Stephen was less a participant than I would have thought. He was very humble and sang well but stage time was more sparse than I thought. I really missed hearing some Stills acoustic guitar jamming. I was really hoping for more Mike Campbell - when he soloed, it was beautiful, but he was not on stage for several songs. I guess I had my hopes up that we might get a Stills/Young/Campbell jam on Mary Jane, or DBTR or something, but that was not in the cards. Note that Mike was not on stage for the SS/NY trio of tunes. I guess I am not surprised, though I stupidly assumed he’d be part of something like that...It was a very satisfying night overall. An “A+” in spirit, intent and attitude. The musical highlights out numbered the flubs. The spirit in the venue was positive. The crowd was great (older, obviously). You can tell your at a Hollywood-centric benefit concert when the crowd singalong parts are very in-tune, with noticeable harmonies here and there. A company town through and through. Everybody’s in showbiz. Everybody’s a star….

Under the category of WTF! Neil Young just announced today that he and Crazy Horse will be playing two days in Fresno on May 1-2 at a theater. Yes, Fresno! The tickets are available on the Archive website. You have 24 hours to purchase the tickets.Since I live in Clovis, CA (a suburb of Fresno). I purchased my tickets already. These are the only scheduled (announced) dates nationwide. Odd doesn't begin to describe this announcement.